senator daniel inuway of hawaii has passed away. a distinguished member of the united states senate. longest s the senate. distinguished record as a legislative leader. also was a world war ii combat veteran. he earned the nation's highest award for military valor and the medal of valor. served as chairman of the iran contra committee and a terrific guy to all of us who covered us over the years. they are joining us right now and very sad news. he was ill in recent weeks and in the hospital. still very, very sad that senator inouye has died. >> no question about it. you talked about some of the many, many points on his resume that made him so distinguished. one of them is that he is currently or was the longest serving senator here. he has been in the senate since 1963. in fact, he has represented the state of hawaii since it became a state in 1959. he also was currently serving as the president protem which made him 30 in line to the presidency. he was a constant presence around here. he has the position of the chairman of the powe